Discussion of economic and investment issues of interest to Canadians investing in Florida real Estate by Canadians investing in Florida real estate.

Wednesday, 16 October 2013

Tampa Home Prices Remain Affordable

Despite a strong recovery Tampa home prices remain
affordable to the majority of middle-class buyers according to a new study byTrulia. The study sites affordability concerns in several markets as a result
of recent price increases. In Tampa however 73% of middle-class families can
afford an average price home costing a maximum of $216,000.

Among the locations where homes are most affordable Tampa also stands out as one of the most desirable places to live. Consider that in Miami for example, only 51% of families can afford to own a
home and West Palm Beach where the percentage is 58%. Of major Florida centres Orlando seems the closest competitor where 69% of families can afford an
average home of $222,000.

Tampa also shows relative strength among affordable markets in terms of economic development. We recently compared the Toronto to Tampa market in terms of a number of benchmarks including average price to average
household income. In Tampa it took the average family earning $58,000
approximately 3.58 years to save for the average detached house costing
approximately $204,000. In Toronto by contrast it would take the average
family making $68,000 some 9.3 years to purchase an average home costing
635,000.